Favoritism
by shallowness
Summary: There's no such thing as a favorite grandchild, but toys are another matter entirely. Fluffy Jane/Bing futurefic.


Title: Favoritism  
Author: shallowness  
Fandom: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries  
Rating: G  
Characters/Pairing: Jane Bennet, Bing Lee, Lizzie Bennet, OMC. Jane/Bing  
Summary: There's no such thing as a favorite grandchild, but toys are another matter entirely.

Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from this fanfiction.  
Author's Note: Futurefic based on episodes 28 and 29 and assumptions made based on the book. 868 words.  
Warning: fluff.

* * *

**Favoritism: shallowness**

Jane's bones creak a little as she bends down to pick up Oliphaunt, handling the stuffed toy with more care than her grandson did when he dropped it on the floor. A gift when she was under the weather that she passed on to her sick child who grew up and passed it on in turn, Oliphaunt is a little worse for the wear, a little patchy and missing its tail, but no-one at Netherfield would ever consider replacing it.

Lizzie has teased Jane since he was born that her only grandson is her favorite, but Jane knows that she and Bing love their children equally, and now their children's children too. Jane honestly can't imagine picking a favorite. She loves them all for their own sakes and because she sees a little piece of Bing – a different piece - in them. She loves her grandson as much as his sister and cousin. And if there are any more grandkids, she'll have just as much love for them too.

After saying all that, or variations thereof to Lizzie, she's always been able to point out that Lizzie would jump in front of traffic to save every single one of her own too.

So, Jane is smiling as she walks into her husband's study, carrying Oliphaunt. Bing puts down his old-fashioned tablet, which he was holding a little too near to his eyes, and she makes a mental note to remind him to schedule a visit to the optometrist soon. His eyes are good enough to spot her smile, which he returns - it still feels like an embrace, which she may have admitted to him many years ago. He promised there'd be lots of smiles in their future.

"We need to talk about your birthday plans," Bing says.

"My…What?" Jane asks, genuinely confused. Her birthday isn't for two months and it isn't a big one.

Bing shakes his head, his expression serious.

"We, as in the grandchildren and I, need to know what you want to do." Suddenly she spots the smile in his eyes. "They want to start designing your cake"

"Ohhh, so it's going to be a cake kind of party." Jane says, walking towards him, thinking of going to the window seat to thrash this out, but her husband reaches for her wrist and pulls her down towards his lap, which works too. She sinks down comfortably.

"I don't think they'd believe me if I told them there was another kind."

"I'm not anti-cake!" she claims, raising up her free hand. "So, they want to design it."

"They feel baking it is a little beyond them right now."

Jane nods.

"Very wise. Well, if it's my grandmotherly duty to have a party-"

"It's in the rulebook."

"There's a rulebook?"

"What, you still haven't got it?"

"No, I'm going to have to borrow Lizzie's."

"I think you're good. They won't complain as long as you let them have this party." Bing says.

She lets out a mock huff of exasperation.

"I thought it was my party. Fine, I'll have a party. With cake. On one condition – everyone has to come." By everyone, she means family, and she knows that Bing knows it.

"Here?" he asks.

"I think the study might be a little too small," she confides.

"I'd offer to demolish the walls, but I think that'd bring the whole thing down. Will it spoil your day if we use the whole house?"

She pretends to consider it, like it's an outrageous suggestion and not what they usually do.

"You know what? That might be okay," she says eventually.

"What's this?" he asks, spotting Oliphaunt and taking it out of her hands.

"Dropped for party business," Jane says philosophically. "We'd better keep it safe, he'll want it with him before he leaves."

Bing is holding the toy so that he's staring into its eyes, a more serious look on his face than he's had since Jane came into the room.

"Remember when I gave you this?" he asks.

"Of course," she says, without needing to think.

"Well, of course you do, when Lizzie immortalized him in one of her dramatizations."

"Not that part," Jane says, elbowing Bing gently – diet and exercise have mostly kept the dreaded spread away. "I remember when you actually gave him to me. Just before we watched that film. You were so great all that time I had that cold. Remember when you told me I had seven decades to live?"

"Or eight," he says, which is answer enough. The joke isn't as funny now that their twenties are so far behind them, but she's grateful for all the decades she's had and looking forward to what's still to come. Jane pulls Oliphaunt out of Bing's grasp, placing the toy elephant on the desk and takes Bing's hand in hers. By now, she recognizes the look on his face.

Their kiss is only interrupted by a cry of "What kind of cake does she want, Grandpa? Did you ask?"

Bing has to clear his throat as Jane laughs.

"A big one. She wants a big one that all the family can eat. That's as far as we got before we got…um, distracted."

The end –

Feedback is loved, but please don't spoil me! I've only seen episode 30 as of writing this.


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